An Indecorous Proposal
by HadenXCharm
Summary: Link isn't sure he's ever seen Prince Sidon make a fool of himself, but he supposed there was a first time for everything. [sidlink - Zora Sapphire Proposal Trope]


If Link could say so, after all the time they've spent together, both before and after the defeat of Calamity Ganon, Sidon was acting some kind of strange.

The last few times Link has visited the Domain and seen Sidon, intending to journey out with him for some fun in the nearby wilderness, Ruto Mountain, or even Shatterback Point if they were feeling particularly adventurous, Link's caught him reading books that were clearly not from the Domain, if he was to judge based on how comically tiny they were in Sidon's hands. On top of it, he always seemed startled when Link found him like that, and behaved as if he'd been caught doing something bad. It was just plain _weird_ if you asked Link. He's never known Sidon to be secretive.

Even more strange than that was Sidon's most recent message, which asked for a visit, urged him to _'Please make haste, my most treasured friend, for we have things to discuss.'_

Link has no idea what he could be talking about, but he wouldn't turn down a visit to the Domain, or to Prince Sidon. If the fishman had one thing going for him, he was unapologetically enthusiastic in his eagerness to seek Link's companionship, and Link likes spending time with him too, if not for that very reason. If Link was honest, it was really hard not to feel fondness for someone who was so innocently open in _liking_ him as Sidon was in their friendship. He supposed all the ridiculous compliments Sidon paid him was just the prince in him, gentleman that he was, but Link couldn't help but glow under all the praise and earnest affection, because, well... ridiculous as it was, it was absolutely genuine. Sidon was just so… _warm._

But there was another side to the charismatic prince. Now that Calamity Ganon was no more, whenever he and Sidon spent time together, they always had so much fun playing - _they'd be lying to call it anything but playing -_ that Sidon's true self seemed to reveal itself. Not much different from how he was usually, still polite, as his upbringing had led him to be, still endlessly kind and bouncy, but he seemed to forget that he was a prince in those times, seemed to drop the pomp and circumstance and the dramatic show of formality he'd always used in treating Link as Hyrule's hero. When they were out in the river, splashing one another and swimming along, or searching for hidden treasure along the mountainside, or trying to catch fireflies at night under the stars, they weren't the prince and the hero, they were just Sidon and Link.

And when it was just them, together, Link was shown that it was not just a princely obligation to treat him nicely, he was shown just how much Sidon truly meant it when he said he was his dearest friend, because when they were alone like that after the end of a long happy day, Sidon would confide in him, open his heart to him, show him what dark and ugly things lay there.

Beneath all the dramatic poses and his boundless positivity and confidence, there lay insecurity, Link knew that, because Sidon was just a person like anyone else. Many times when they lay out on the riverbank together under the stars, or trekked up the mountainside on their own, while Link contentedly plodded along listening to Sidon chatter about the goings-on of the Zora's domain, whether it be political intrigue or just to get _the Hylian Hero's_ opinion on an important decision that fell to him as prince to his people, sometimes Sidon became very serious with him. Sidon has told him how he worries he will not be a worthy king when his time comes, that it should have been Mipha to wear the crown and that he should've have been the one to die and not her, how he misses his sister, how he regrets not doing more to keep her safe, small child that he'd been at the time. He's shown Link fear and shame and grief that Link was fairly sure he's never shown anyone else.

In those moments when Link feels so close to Sidon, and as often as Sidon calls him his most treasured friend, in those moments he _feels_ it, because even then, Sidon is honest.

Which only made it all the more mysterious that he was acting secretive now. Link could only assume Sidon had some sort of surprise for him. The poor fish couldn't be relied upon for his subtlety, but then, no man has everything.

In any case, Link hurried back, because he does miss his friend.

As should have been expected, Link doesn't have to search long once he does arrive in the Domain, as Sidon seemed to have been eagerly awaiting his return, and came upon him quickly. "Link, my friend! You are here!" he boomed, opening his arms up in that way he has that always makes Link think for a moment that he was somehow expecting a hug despite his stature easily doubling his.

Link waved in greeting, and Sidon eagerly waved back, his tail wagging behind him as he chirped happily, "Hello!" Making his usual fist and arm-flex, he pressed on, "I wondered when you would arrive! I should have known it wouldn't take long for such an experienced adventurer to cover so much ground. All the same, I am glad to see you safely returned, my friend!"

He tried to stifle a smile at the clear enthusiasm. Link has long since realized that despite appearing the suave prince, it was all a bunch of posturing, because whenever Link saw him these days, any time Sidon wasn't focusing on affairs of state with the seriousness it should be afforded, he behaved in a way that Link found quite funny, like a big excited dog. Look at him standing there, practically vibrating, beaming in unadulterated joy at Link's return, the silly boy.

 _'Letter,'_ Link signed questioningly, miming that he was writing something. _'You say important. I come fast.'_

"Ah yes, of course!" Sidon straightened up with a flourish, clearing his throat. "I have much to tell you, my dear friend." Link places a hand to his mouth to hide that he was laughing, although his shoulders rising up probably gave it away. Sidon seemed, dare he say it, a little _flustered_ then, and held a hand out at his side. "Will you come this way?"

 _'Serious,'_ Link signed, mimicking Sidon's facial expression and then dissolving into teasing laughter. Sidon snorted as he walked slowly to match Link's stride, shaking his head a little bit and giving him a scandalized look.

"I'm acting serious because it _is_ serious! I have very _serious_ matters to discuss with you, you know!" Sidon pursed his lips and told him, "This is of the utmost importance, so please, Link, if you could try to behave in a more dignified-"

 _"Plbbbthh-"_ Link teased, blowing a raspberry, only for Sidon to gasp in exasperation.

"Well, I-!" Link burst into more giggling, which eased the tense line of Sidon's shoulders, melted his expression into a smile. A huff of a laugh slipped out of him. "You're right, my friend. I forget myself, there's no need for harsh words. After all, all will be explained soon." Link tilted his head and followed at the prince's side.

They moved through the palace grounds, past rows of stone columns and through gardens bubbling with fountains and rich greenery, until they were quite alone near a beautiful sparkling pool and some stone benches. Link moved to sit, but Sidon did not. In fact, he stood there and scuffed his foot a little, looking away when Link glanced back to him questioningly.

"I beg your pardon, my friend. I'm sure by now you've realized I'm behaving strangely. It's only I… I'm rather anxious to show you something." Link perked up a little bit, coming close, but Sidon took a step back, a fist at his chin as he cleared his throat. He _was_ acting strangely, so much in fact that Link was starting to get a little worried.

 _'S-I-D-O-N,'_ he spelled out, just to get his attention. Sidon seemed to wilt at that, and Link was quite alarmed now. He gave him quite a stern look and gestured, _'What? What happen?'_

Sidon looked down to meet his gaze for a long few moments, seeming troubled, but at last he heaved a great sigh. "I know, I'm acting a fool. I suppose I simply ought to tell you."

Link startled back when Sidon knelt down in front of him all of a sudden and produced a beautiful jewel between them, a sparkling gold star inlaid with three large gleaming sapphires. Link marvels at its dark glow, the way the soft light of the glowing aqua pools around them glimmer and sparkle off the edges of the sapphires. He made a soft noise of wonder, as if to try to impart how beautiful he found it, and then looked up to Sidon's face.

Was this what Sidon had needed to show him? Was this the surprise? This couldn't be a gift for him, could it, not something so rare and fine as this?

Link reached out a hand, thinking Sidon was going to place the heavy gem in his palm. As he did so, Sidon's face lit up in pure joy, but he didn't give it to him just yet, simply held it out between them in his big clawed hand, showing it to him. Link crowded around it, admiring it, ears twitching excitedly.

"You recognize this, don't you?" Sidon says with a smile, and his voice is as low and gentle as Link's ever heard it. Not even under the starlight or in the glow-worm caves they've visited has he spoken to him thus, so warm and sweet, and somehow… even _sad._ "I suppose you would, as it has been gifted to you once before in times past."

Link paused then. _'It has?'_ he thought, gazing up at Sidon questioningly.

"By the Princess Ruto," Sidon said, as though he would remember, but of course he doesn't. Sidon took an anticipatory breath, hesitating, and then tentatively murmured, "So you know what I'm going to say?..."

Link cocked his head.

Sidon's lips parted as he seemed to wait for a response, but Link furrowed his brow in confusion. This was all so strange. He didn't know why Sidon was showing him this, if not to give it to him. What's stranger is how Sidon was acting. He was behaving so meekly, almost as though he were nervous, and Link didn't understand why. He's never _ever_ known Sidon to be shy, least of all in front of _him,_ and that was certainly how he seemed now.

Seeming to decide there was no point in turning back, Sidon swallowed, but then took a breath, holding the jewel right in line with Link's gaze. Link tries to peer over it into Sidon's face, concerned with the troubled look that had clouded his expression. All he could see now was that familiar princely bluster of his.

"Link, my dearest friend!" he told him, voice rich and strong with his usual suave confidence. "I'm never more at peace than when we are together. I'm sure I could go the rest of my life and not tire of having you at my side!"

Link stared. The penny still hadn't dropped, he didn't know why not, because it seemed so obvious after Sidon finally burst the bubble on his next breath. "Would you do me the honor of your hand in marriage?" Sidon wondered, voice so strong and unwavering that it came out more as a demand than anything else, as if he'd had to blurt it out like that to make himself say it at all.

He didn't know what he'd been expecting, really he didn't, but if he'd had a list of what he might've thought was coming, that wouldn't have made the top fifty. Maybe he was naive that way, because it made sense now, it really did - the kneeling down, the uncharacteristic shyness, the fumbling around.

Even so, he was surprised. He doesn't think he's ever been more surprised. And he… doesn't know what to do - just _stands_ there, frozen. The seconds tick by and he still remains there, gaping openly.

"Oh…" Sidon breathed, a quiver working its way into his brow, the muscles in his cheeks clenching up around his eyes. _Fear,_ Link realized. "Oh dear…" he practically whimpered, voice wrenched and weak. "You aren't responding…"

As Link watched, Sidon's fin drooped in dismay, the little pink stripe over his nose twitched in unhappiness a few times, and his face grew slack with alarm. "Have I offended you?" he wondered, absolutely aghast.

He withdrew the jewel a little bit, clenching it in one fist and tapping his index fingers together, claws clicking. "Link, please say something, I'm getting dreadfully nervous."

Link felt his face flush, and it was a sudden and violent thing, the blood rushing through his cheeks, his forehead, enough that he was on the verge of swooning. _'G-E-T M-A-R-R-I-E-D?'_ he spelled out, hands jerky and fumbling.

"Yes," Sidon said with great hesitance, seeming smaller then than Link's ever seen him. "You see, I… I find I've fallen in love with you," he told him.

Link took a breath, as if to speak aloud, and then put his hands to his face for a second, covering first his mouth, then put them to his cheeks, and then his eyes. "Oh!" Sidon gasped. "Oh no…" Link looked up at him wide-eyed and flushed hot-pink, covering his nose and mouth, pressing his palms together. "If I've embarrassed you, I deeply apologize…"

Link didn't know why Sidon was worrying about that when he was clearly flustered himself. He didn't think he'd ever seen Sidon embarrassed before; he'd definitely remember if he had, because right before his eyes, Sidon's cheeks were turning a bright aqua turquoise, practically glowing, his face twisted in dismay. "Have I done something wrong? I fear I did not procure a ring, as Hylians do. I've tried to study it, you must believe me, it's only I- I thought the Zora Sapphire would be enough, but perhaps I've made a mistake…"

The goddess-be-damned _Zora Sapphire?_ Link tugged hard on his ears, eyes boggling at Sidon incredulously. Sidon visibly gulped at his rather violent reaction, flinching in on himself despite Link's comparably tiny physique.

 _'What…'_ Link signed shakily, fumbling it a few times. _'What father say? What king say?'_ he repeated.

Sidon cleared his throat, regaining some of his composure, but seeming almost panicked about it. "Ah yes! I've told Father of my plan to woo you to my side. He gave me the sapphire should I need it - and of course I do! - but he told me not to go overboard," he trailed off, and in a nervous way Link has never once seen him do, he reached up and tugged on one of his fins.

"Have I? I suppose I must have..."

Seized with frantic nervous energy, he crowded into Link's face, redoubling his efforts. "Of course, I would never push myself on you if I were unwelcome. You must feel free to refuse!" he declared, far too loudly, as he always was when he was worked up into a frenzy. "I confess I have been worried you may have your reservations about accepting me - because I am not a Hylian! - but such a thing should not matter where love is concerned! And I do love you, truly I do!"

Link leaned back from Sidon's big face getting too close to his, blinking at him, wide-eyed. He opened his mouth and gaped helplessly.

"But please, I forget myself."

He held out the sapphire again, and for all he said about not being pushy, he was, of course he was. As always, he was still the same charismatic, enthusiastic, overbearing, _bossy_ person Link has come to call his friend. With a certain desperation, he pressed the jewel towards him, as if begging that he accept it into his hands.

Link held up his hands and took a step back, shaking them in a 'woah' motion, trying to convey that he felt overwhelmed, all this sprung on him at once. He put his fingers to his brow with a sigh, and then signed tentatively, _'... Joke?'_

"A joke?" Sidon repeated aloud, softly, jaw slackening, shoulders dropping somewhat. "You think…" He laughed then, and he's truly pitiful, the noise coming out wretchedly. "Link, I'm holding my heart out to you, please, don't take it for a joke." Voice rising practically to the point of a wail, he wrenches out, "I'm fully aware that this is a disaster, but in any case!" He pressed the jewel at him one more time. "Please say yes," he begged, eyes shining earnestly.

 _'I can't,'_ Link thinks. _'How can I?'_

He shook his head no, holding his hands up again, as if to keep Sidon from shoving the gem right into his chest. Sidon absolutely crumbled at the refusal, looking like a cat left in the rain. "Oh Link, you break my heart…"

 _'What am I supposed to do when you ask me to marry you just like that?'_ Link thinks, aggravated, mind racing. _'I didn't even know you felt like that a few minutes ago! Sidon, damn you, you overdo everything! Don't you know how to break something to a person gently?!'_

But he can't say all this of course, no matter how he wishes that he could. What he signed was, _'Surprise.'_

"Oh…" Link pressed his lips together, finding himself standing up straighter at Sidon's tone of voice. He sounded so _dull…_ so very down _._ "I've gone too fast, you mean," he worked out slowly.

 _'Yes,'_ Link signed, glad for once that he didn't have to speak aloud, sure that his voice would crack and squawk at a moment like this. _'Too fast!'_

"I see." Sidon withdrew the sapphire, looking down at it so sadly that Link felt truly guilty to see his friend so openly heartbroken. Not one to give up, Sidon lifted his head after clipping it to his belt and gave a half-smile as he tried, "Mayhaps I could settle for courting you, for the time being."

Link held his hands up still, to show that this was all too much, but Sidon seemed to really take it hard, because his face dropped again, not that it had ever really regained its former confidence.

"I've… I've long feared that you may not feel the same towards me as I do for you, that you cannot love me when we are so very different, but I had hoped perhaps that you could-" he tried, speaking faster in his unhappiness, "could grow to love me that is, even if you do not now. And if not that, I had hoped that at least, you would not pull away..."

Link took a step back in retreat and Sidon's expression fills with utter dread.

He turned his head away, biting his lip, not wanting to see him looking so sad, but even in looking away, he can see Sidon on his periphery, holding a hand out to him as if to stop him leaving. He watched him reach out, and then saw as his hand slowly dropped away, saw his lips press together and quiver, watched his eyes grow impossibly large and black. "Link?…" Sidon croaked, face pale and bleak.

Link opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came, and he shook his head helplessly. Sidon hung his head, crestfallen.

He put his fingers to his lips then, biting them. He's made a mess of things, hasn't he. He's really hurt Sidon's feelings. Link took a timid step or two towards him, towards his great hulking red mass of a body, shuddering and drooping though it was in heartbreak. He tried to sign to Sidon, and watched as he placed a big hand to his eyes, watched him bite into his lip and grimace, watched his mouth contort in sadness, as though he's lost something he loves and has given up on ever finding it again.

He tried to sign to him, but Sidon won't look at him, he's closed in on himself in his despair. He even puts his hand onto Sidon's leg, but Sidon just encloses his face in his palms, head bowing even further down. Link bit his lip harshly in alarm, thinking he may have actually driven the poor fool to tears. _'Oh…'_

At last, Link takes a few anticipatory breaths, and forces his throat to push out a sound, just enough for him to croak, _"Sidon."_

The prince stills at that, peeks out at him, one big wounded golden eye, the dark slit seeming to quiver and tremble in uncertainty. It wasn't often that the tables were turned between them and Sidon was the one who needed encouragement, needed cheering up. Link had never been good at it, and in the meantime he was still reeling from Sidon's unexpected admission of love.

 _'Not mad,'_ he tried to tell him. _'Never fear. We okay.'_

"But how can we be?!" Sidon blurts, and what a mess, his voice so watery and cracking and very un-prince-like. "You are generous and kind, Link, as I should expect from the Hylian champion, but you needn't pretend that I have not made a complete fool of myself. I know that I have, and I… I-! I'm sorry, I just don't know what I'll do should you say you don't want to see me again!" He wrung his hands in woe. The aqua blush in his cheeks has gathered around his nose, under his eyes. "Oh, what have I done?!"

Link tries to stop him, tries to hold up a hand to silence him, but Sidon continued to fret, until Link tugged insistently on his arm fin to get his attention.

 _'I don't know what I should say, S-I-D-O-N,'_ he signed slowly, so he wouldn't get mixed up. Sidon gazes upon him raptly, so as to catch every movement, everything he was trying to tell him.

"Anything," he breathed, quickly descending into dismayed babbling again, a fumbling attempt to fix what he was sure he'd broken irreparably. "So long as you don't turn your back on me. I couldn't bear it if you should no longer wish to see my face, to… to talk together as we once did." He shook his head with a gasp, "You truly are my dear and treasured friend, you know, and I would miss you terribly should you go away and not return. If I've made a mistake, if I've overstepped, I hope you will forgive my forwardness. I will make this right, if you will let me- I, I won't ever mention it again, I can control myself, I promise I can." Face wrenched, his teeth practically bared he was so torn up and distressed, Sidon implored him, "Oh Link, I'm sorr-"

Link had made a shushing motion several times throughout that long-winded declaration of heartfelt apology and bald-faced _fear_ , but Sidon couldn't seem to shut himself up, and when Link's hushing didn't stop him, he grumbled and frustratedly moved his finger to Sidon's mouth, shoving it against his lips. Sidon immediately clammed up and went absolutely rigid, all his fins and spines puffing and fanning open in a sudden sharp flourish, his eyes drawn wide. His jaw and all his wicked teeth slammed shut with a _clack._

With a huff, Link slowly withdrew his finger and signed, _'Talk too much,'_ but Sidon remained as if struck by lightning, frozen there other than the way his sides puffed with quick labored breaths. _'I don't know what to say,'_ Link repeated, _'Big surprise.'_

Sidon nodded slowly, blinking a few times, and took a breath, as if to try to go on another tirade, but he went quiet and still again when Link brought his hands up to his chest in fists, crossing them over his heart tentatively.

 _'Love?'_ he signed questioningly, to make certain he understood, because it felt amazingly absurd, it felt like it couldn't be true. _'You love me.'  
_

Sidon swallowed hard, but nodded many times, rasping earnestly, "I do," the breath gushing out of him, "Oh, I do..."

 _'I never thought.'_ Link looked down at his toes and, feeling rather flustered again, motioned once more, _'Surprise.'_

"I… I suppose I expected that it would be a shock, but, well…" Sidon fiddled with his hands once more, mumbling to himself like an ashamed guppy would do after breaking a vase playing too wildly. "I see now that I didn't consider quite how much it would be, to press that upon you all at once. Champion though you may be, I must have alarmed you, behaving as I did." He clicks his teeth and scolded himself, looking away as his cheeks begin to glow blue again.

He tried to smile then, but it fell short of the usual. "Please try not to tease too much, my friend. I'm sure we may joke about this one day, but please not now. For all that I try to keep my spirits up, my heart is rather… sensitive…" Link put his hands to his cheeks again. Sidon was so embarrassed that it was making him embarrassed too.

Catching on, Sidon looked away and pulled his fin again, giving an awkward laugh. "Oh, I've made such a fool of myself, haven't I," he said sadly.

 _'No,'_ Link signed a few times until Sidon looked at him again and actually saw. _'Good,'_ he insisted earnestly. _'Feel…'_ He took a breath and then signed, _'Feel happy.'_ He patted his chest. _'Heart happy.'_

Sidon seemed to perk up a little, his headfin wagging just a tiny bit, just near the tip. "Oh… You are amazingly kind, my friend, but please… don't say so if you don't truly mean it."

Link put his index finger to his lips and moved it away from his face quickly. _'Truth.'_

Sidon's face was open and slack with wonder and amazement, but his headfin wagged a little more, hopeful and lively. He squirmed where he knelt as the seconds passed, seeming unable to contain himself.

And really, Link might not have thought about whether or not he'd truly have to answer Sidon's request, to give any sort of reply to his confession, might not have considered his own feelings even then, but at that moment, it wasn't a question. How can he not smile, how can his heart not beat with excitement, seeing a big pink sharkman who has been his loyal and loving friend light up like that in absolute joy.

How can he not feel something, love or not?

Link gave a little cough, trying not to smile too much at the undeniably happy fish wriggling about across from him. He looked away, but held his hand out, palm open.

Nothing happened for a moment or two, and when Link at last glanced up, Sidon seemed frozen to stone, staring at him as if in a trance, but then jolted into movement in a flurry of energy, eagerly putting his own hand out, at first ready to engulf Link's own hand and quite a bit of his forearm in his zealous grasp. Link was quick to take a couple of Sidon's fingers into his hand, and Sidon stuttered to a stop, seeming to turn to a warm puddle, his big hand going soft and careful against his.

 _'Walk,'_ Link signed, gesturing to the garden path. _'Walk together.'_ Sidon stood in a hurry, yanking Link around a bit when he did not let go of his hand and pulled his arm above his head as he rose to his full height. Link snorted, the wind knocked out of him. Sidon was a gentle soul, truly he was, but he was excitable too, and forgot his own strength and size in comparison to Link's quite often in his enthusiasm.

"Oh! My apologies, my little friend!" Link pulled Sidon's hand down to a more acceptable level, and Sidon gladly bent, stooping slightly and following at his side. They held hands very gently, Sidon holding just the tips of his fingers within his as Link lead him along.

 _'Maybe… Maybe we try.'_ Link gives an uncertain shrug and a half smile, and for all Sidon was a real-life prince charming, he seemed utterly charmed by Link, near ready to faint away in a fit of swooning. _'S-I-D-O-N,'_ he signed slowly, sometimes drawing his hand back from Sidon's grasp so he could use both.

 _'You always my friend. You support me. Time I fight V-A-H R-U-H-T-A, you believe I can win. You my friend. I care a lot. From my heart.'_ Signing so much took some time and a lot of thought, and when he was through, almost the entirety of Sidon's face was flushed a bright beaming teal. Link smiled, ears dropping sheepishly as he placed his hand back inside Sidon's, where it hung limply at his side.

"Oh my..." Sidon marveled, and it's the first time Link's seen him so speechless. He beamed, laughing breathily at the way Sidon's tail wagged aggressively, flinging itself about his shoulders in wild excitement, his expression dreamy and contented.

"Things have changed now, haven't they," Sidon said once he got a handle on his undignified wriggling, voice soft and slow. "I suppose it would be difficult to go on as we have, after that," he laughed sheepishly.

 _'I think about.'_ Link tugged his ear, feeling quite as uncertain as Sidon clearly did. _'Not bad. Happy.'_

Sidon smiled then, a warm relieved thing. "I suppose I'm glad I haven't upset you. If this has made you happy, then I should be glad of that, my friend. . ." He closed his fingers around Link's hand at last, curling one after the other until he had gently enclosed his entire hand in his palm.

"And you've allowed me this much... What a wonderful thing to be happening."

Link nodded yes. _'Because,'_ he signed, and then placed a hand to his heart, his palm covering it, and then reached it out to Sidon, although his hand fell far short of Sidon's own chest, his fingers brushing his middle. He smiled up at him, and Sidon seemed to catch his meaning.

He stopped where he stood, his face so open and yearning, so full of wonder and hope as he gazed down at Link, and then in a rush, he seized both of Link's hands in his, forcing Link to take a few steps towards him to avoid toppling over. "You feel the same?" Sidon said breathlessly, bending down to his face. "Oh Link, please tell me you love me too..."

Link smiled, and it grew and grew until he was showing his teeth and beaming, his eyes starting to close from it, his nose even crinkling a little. Sidon gave a wild laugh. "Of course, winning the heart of a young lady isn't quite the same as that of a young and wild adventurer, the hero of Hyrule, but I shall give it my very best, if I may!"

Link smiled widely, so much that it began to burst into a laugh. He should've expected it. Sidon was so earnest in everything he did, especially where it had to do with their friendship, that he should have expected Sidon to throw everything into sweeping him off his feet where love was concerned, perhaps literally given their stark height difference, but he found he didn't mind at all as Sidon continued holding his hands and practically flinging him around when he shook him once or twice in excitement. Link liked how warm it made him feel, Sidon's laughter, how everything inside him seemed to sparkle and gleam.

He twisted his hands within Sidon's palms, drawing them out slowly when Sidon loosened his grasp and let him go. He opened his arms to Sidon and wrapped them around his legs, putting his cheek to the side of his smooth muscled hip.

"...!" Sidon startled for a moment, not seeming to know the proper response, but he then put his hands to Link's back, trying to hold him in return. Link closed his eyes in a smile, feelings Sidon's great hands shake as they rubbed over his back, clumsily stroking his head, just one palm engulfing his whole head and mussing his hair. He imagined if Sidon were to be a bit more bold or excited, he would lift him into the air and spin him and throw him around without a care and squeeze him in his arms, press him to his face in his happiness. But for now he is gentle, hesitant.

Link withdrew from their embrace and Sidon was smiling, this uncertain but so undeniably _joyful_ thing that Link felt sure about what to do next.

He tilted his head up to him and placed a finger to his mouth and tapped, watching as the recognition lit up Sidon's face, watched his chest heave in anticipation and excitement.

He held his own breath in as Sidon leaned down, practically squatted in place to try to reach him with a kiss. Link closed his eyes as Sidon's puckered lips met his face, large and plush and pressing onto his own mouth. Link had half a mind to sputter a laugh and pull away to wipe his face at the tickling sensation, but Sidon's eyes were closed and he was trying so earnestly that Link just put his arms around Sidon's face and kisses back, despite knowing Sidon had only to open his mouth and he could eat him in one or two bites.

He held Sidon's cheeks and moved against the seal their mouths created, pressed together, and the wild thought crossed his mind that he was kissing a sharkman, he was letting a fish kiss him, and yet, he has never felt anything more tender, more loving.

"Oh… oh my dear," Sidon breathed, altogether too large and too imposing to wrap around him and fit into his space the way he was trying to, but he was still so very gentle, hands slow with wonder, eyes set aglow. "I don't know what to do, I'm so happy," he told him, "I'm sure no man in all Hyrule has ever felt quite so happy as I do."

He tried to kiss him again, eager and shoving his great big face into his, but Link turns his head, a giggle bubbling out of him when Sidon's lips cover his cheek, the side of his head near his ear, pressing him with careful affection.

"Like this," Sidon murmured, "Won't you let me kiss you again, in the Zora way." He put his face to Link's. "Like this," he whispered, and butted the crest of his nose against Link's forehead, and he was so gentle, so very delicate about it, that Link didn't know what he was doing at first, but soon realized Sidon was nuzzling him, kissing him with his sensitive nose.

Link tried to do it back, rubbing his nose against Sidon's face by shaking his head back and forth, and Sidon whimpered out a sigh, trembling all over and aggressively returning it, nuzzling firmly into Link's ear and his cheek and his neck and shoving his face there. "O-Oh…! Hmm!" His tail was flinging around so wildly that it hurled past his shoulders and brushed Link's, repeatedly slapping at the side of his face.

Enclosed in Sidon's arms, Link withdrew from the gentle embrace, standing before him and smiling into his face. Sidon let out a long happy breath, beaming back, his toothy grin back to its former glory.

Tentatively, Link reached out and touched the Zora sapphire where it was clipped onto Sidon's belt, and Sidon froze, his eyes glowing as he watched Link take it into his hands and hold it up as though to show it to him, and then pointed at it with a snort, raising his eyebrow.

 _'You think, O-V-E-R-K-I-L-L?'_ Link signed.

"Ah yes, my sweet," Sidon laughed somewhat awkwardly, "Perhaps I did get a little overzealous. But you see, I felt so eager to call you mine that I got carried away! ..." They laughed together for a moment, and Sidon knelt at his side.

"Of course you're right, we must take things slowly," he murmured, his fist to his chin in thought. "How wise you are. You see, I need your guiding hand or else I overdo things."

Link smiled and teased him a little bit, feeling he deserved it after doing something so ridiculous as proposing marriage straight out without stopping to consider that he has never even told Link his feelings before now. He placed the large gem on his forehead questioningly, then in the center of his chest, then on the back of his hand, not knowing where it should be worn. At Sidon's breathy sigh, "Oh, my love… How beautiful you look," Link laughed at him a little more.

"Ah, please don't, my friend, I'm so embarrassed," Sidon cringed, the color rising in his cheeks one last time. "I hope you will keep this blunder of mine a secret." Link shrugged his shoulders coyly, drawing a booming laugh from his friend.

"You… You have been my best friend," Sidon murmured warmly. "To think I could call you mine, I feel so proud. I should have known, someone so kind and brave as you would also show such generosity. To give a fool such as myself a chance, when I am not even Hylian! How lucky I am in you!"

Link puffed himself up, beaming, and Sidon chuckled. "I confess, my treasured friend, I know this may prove a challenge. I suspect it will not be easy, when we are so very different. Things that should be simple, even so much as embracing each other, may be difficult. I'll have to mind the claws, you know, and not to hold you to me too tightly. Ahh, it may be the case that you find us _too_ different - not that I don't accept and admire you in every way, my friend! It's just, the Hylian way is foreign to me, and I know I must seem very strange to you in return. I only-" Sidon blinked and paused. "Yes?"

 _'No,'_ Link signed. _'Not too D-I-F-F-E-R-E-N-T.'_ He put his hand to his heart again, and then touched Sidon's, able to reach it this time. Sidon absolutely glowed.

"Ahh, a-hah… Ahem. Link… Oh…" He took a moment to collect himself and then as charmingly as ever, laughed and beamed. "Have I told you how amazing you are? And how very much I love you?" he said, "Because-"

 _"Sidon,"_ he whispered, cutting him short when Sidon's eyes shot to his lips.

Link held up his hand, and Sidon stopped and watched, as if waiting for him to sign something, but when nothing came, he slowly mimicked him, holding up his own hand.

Link smiled and then placed his palm to Sidon's. His hand seemed so tiny against his, and he had to spread his fingers wide in order to lace each of his between Sidon's - but they fit. And if he might say so, they looked rather beautiful like that, his own plain stubby fingers inbetween each of Sidon's brilliantly red ones.

"Oh yes," Sidon breathed, marveling at the sight, letting his own fingers settle around Link's.

"I suppose you're right…"


End file.
